I-League 2015/16: East Bengal’s title hopes up in smokes as DSK hand emphatic defeat
Bottom-placed DSK Shivajains defeated third-placed East Bengal 2-0 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune to almost end the Kolkata side’s hopes of a title challenge. Ivorian midfielder Douhou Pierre and Spaniard Juan Quero scored the goals for the home side in what was an impressive win for DSK.
Starting Lineups:
DSK Shivajians: Subrata Paul (GK), Surchandra, Jhingan, Z.
East Bengal: Rehenesh (GK),
Struggling at the bottom of the table, DSK Shivajians came into the match against East Bengal after earning two 1-1 draws against Shillong Lajong in back-to-back games. The Kolkata side had escaped with a 1-0 victory the last time they had met back in January, and DSK was hoping to turn the tables on East Bengal this time around.
On the other hand, East Bengal had suffered a shock 3-1 defeat against Salgaocar in midweek and came into the match against DSK looking for three points to get back into the title race.
But, the 2015 Calcutta Premier Division champions suffered a shock in the eighth minute with the home side going ahead from a counter attack. Left-back Juan Quero sent in a lovely through ball to Dipanda, and the forward cut in from the right and went around Rehenesh to smash the ball straight at the far post. Before the East Bengal defenders could react, Douhou Pierre arrived on the scene and smashed the ball past Rehenesh to open the scoring for DSK.
The goal woke up East Bengal from their slumber, and the Kolkata team pushed forward in search of the equaliser with Ranti Martins leading the line. However, apart from two close penalty shouts, East Bengal had a relatively quiet first forty-five minutes with the home side dominating the proceedings. But the wasteful forward line of DSK missed, at least, two chances, which could have put the match to bed even before the break.
The home side’s wasteful run in front of the goal continued even after the break with Dipanda and Douhou Pierre missing easy opportunities. With DSK missing chance after chance, East Bengal slowly picked up their pace and dominated the first fifteen minutes of the second half. But former Real Madrid youth player Juan Quero quashed all hopes of a comeback from East Bengal in the 66th minute with a cracker of a shot from 25 yards. The Spaniard picked up the ball on the left and moved it a few yards before curling a shot straight into the right-hand top corner.
With the match almost out of their hands, East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya brought on Cavin Lobo and Bikash Jairu in search of a goal, but the home side’s defence kept Bengal’s attackers quiet to clinch three well-deserved points.
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